Collaborative Research: Development and Application of a Rayleigh-Based Approach to Coral Thermometry

该合同将提供资金，根据对多种元素比例(如镁/钙、锶/钙、钡/钙)的高精度分析和实验确定的分配系数，改进用于珊瑚生物矿化的基于瑞利的地球化学温度计(RBGT)，以便它可以广泛应用于各种温暖和冷水环境中的珊瑚物种。这项研究的三个主要目标包括描述文石沉淀过程中元素的分配随温度和晶体生长速度的变化，通过分析具有匹配的现场温度记录的珊瑚骨骼短片来确定RBGT的准确性，以及应用RBGT来构建小冰期(公元1640-1670)高峰期期间大西洋表面温度的连续、季节性分辨记录。更广泛的影响包括研究改进对珊瑚中的地球化学档案的解释，以便更好地重建过去的海洋温度，以便进行模型输入和未来的全球变化预测。这个项目还包括一名年轻的PI，他最近开始了一个新的教职。

This award will provide funds to refine a Rayleigh-based geochemical thermometer (RBGT) for coral biomineralization based on high-precision analyses of multiple elemental ratios (e.g. Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) and experimentally determined partition coefficients so that it can be broadly applied across coral species in a wide range of warm and cold-water environments. Three main objectives of this research include a description of element partitioning during aragonite precipitation as a function of temperature and crystal growth rate, determination of the accuracy of the RBGT by analyzing short sections of coral skeletons that have matching in-situ temperature records and application of the RBGT to construct a continuous, seasonally resolved record of Atlantic sea surface temperatures during the peak of the Little Ice Age ~1640-1670 AD. The Broader Impacts include research to improve interpretation of the geochemical archive in corals to better reconstruct past ocean temperatures for model input and future global change predictions. This project also includes a young PI who has recently started a new faculty position.